1. Technical Field
The present invention relates generally to a plasma scrubber and, more particularly, to a plasma scrubber that enables decomposition of non-biodegradable gases with low cost.
2. Description of the Related Art
Gases that cause global warming include CO2, CH4, N2O, HFC, and per-fluorocompounds (PFC). The per-fluorocompounds (PFC) are gases mainly used in display manufacturing processes and semiconductor manufacturing processes and include CF4, C2F6, SF6, and NF3.
Global warming gases have stable molecular structures and are not easily biodegraded, so they are referred to as non-biodegradable gases. A technology for decomposing non-biodegradable gases is necessary to prevent environmental contamination and global warming caused by such non-biodegradable gases.
Methods for removing non-biodegradable gases include an oxidation method using combustion of gases, a method for chemically absorbing gases, and a decomposition method using plasma. The decomposition method using plasma is mainly used in removal of per-fluorocompounds.
The decomposition method using plasma uses a plasma torch generating plasma of high temperature in a reactor, in which case several tens or hundreds of kilowatts of power is consumed only to treat several tens or hundreds of liters per minute.
Non-biodegradable gases are decomposed in a reactor through thermal decomposition of the gases under a high temperature atmosphere or collisions of electrons of high energy and gas molecules. However, it is difficult to form in a reactor an expanded reaction section of high temperature in which electrons of high energy and chemical species of high reactivity are abundant.